caption:ART FIRST, AND THEN REFLECTION: Seventy-five
artists with disabilities are currently featuring their work
in a 350-piece exhibition throughout the main lobby corridors
at the University Medical Center of Princeton. The show, now in
its second year, attracts artists from around the globe. end
of caption

In
Hospital's ArtFirst! Exhibit, Disability Is Entirely Secondary

Matthew
Hersh

Art is in the air at the University
Medical Center of Princeton. Literally.

It
hangs throughout several public corridors at the hospital as part
of the ArtFirst! art exhibit that began last week. The exhibit,
which is sponsored by the medical center's Auxiliary, features
approximately 300 professional art pieces by 75 artists. The
art will be for sale, with a portion of the proceeds going
to the development of the hospital's new Breast Health Center.

So what is it about the show that makes it
unique? Well, the art first, as the name suggests, but it should
be noted that all of the artists considered for this second
annual exhibition are physically or mentally disabled.

"It's
about the art," said Lois Levy, the director of ArtFirst!
"We really wanted to shout out about their talent and
we want people to think of disabled people as being able to
do great things."

Ms. Levy prefers to
not classify this as 'art therapy," but as a gift for art
that grew out of disability, adding that many in the exhibit were already
artists before suffering from a disability that forced them to relearn
their craft. Other artists began studying art techniques and taking classes
when their disabilities limited them from pursuing activities
that had once occupied their time.

However,
the disability factor cannot be overlooked. Several of the artists suffering
from degenerative diseases like multiple sclerosis or with partial paralysis
have adapted their disabilities in a way that influenced their art.
One artist, Carol Saylor of Pennsylvania, was diagnosed with progressive
deafness and blindness, or Usher's Syndrome, and she has been legally
blind for 20 years. Ms. Saylor was a painter prior to her disability,
but her sight impairment made painting virtually impossible.

"I
started exhibiting her work when she was painting, and then I
never saw her work again until a few years ago: she became
totally blind," Ms. Levy said, in recounting the progression
of Carol Saylor's work. "She was losing her hearing, and
she was devastated."

Instead of resigning
herself to what fate had in store, however, Ms. Saylor channeled
her art through a form in which she could work: sculpture. She
now works with clay, papier-mache, plaster, bronze, and wood.
She has also exhibited in several shows including the National
Exhibits by Blind Artists and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Her work as a sculptor has also won awards from the Women's
Committee of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

According
to Ms. Levy, another artist had suggested that Ms. Saylor try sculpture
because it is a more tactile art form.

"She
never thought she'd be any good at it, and she has evolved over
the years and her work is very sophisticated," Ms. Levy
said. "She's just a brilliant sculptor."

While
this is only the second year of ArtFirst! at the hospital, the
show's concept dates back over 25 years.

"The
first show I did like this was in 1979 when I was working at a
rehab hospital," Ms. Levy said. "Back in 1979 people
literally did not know anything about disabled people, they
saw somebody in a wheel chair, and they wouldn't talk to that
person, but to [their attendant]."

Ms.
Levy said that at that point, she felt it was necessary to bring attention
to individuals' abilities, and not disabilities.

"I
started seeking sources to find artists and I've created a database
with over 750 names from all over the world," she said.
But her move to Princeton came only two years ago, along with
another prominent hospital official.

When Princeton
HealthCare System President and CEO Barry Rabner came on board
in March of 2002, he had already been familiar with Ms. Levy's
exhibit when they had worked together for the Main Line Health
System in Malvern, Pennsylvania.

"He
loved the show," Ms. Levy said. "So he told the Auxiliary
about the show, and [then Auxiliary President] Barbara Curtis
was so excited about it."

The work
is not what the typical viewer expects to see, Ms. Levy added.
And she's right. It's not. The art itself is evocative and
executed with sophistication and skill, but one cannot help
but remember the obstacles overcome by these artists who will
not let disabilities hinder their talent, as Ms. Saylor said
of her ability to work through blindness:

"I
am not a body, but a mind and a spirit; the body's eyes have nothing
to do with vision, and the body's ears have nothing to do with
listening."